Joe Jaworski, Texas Senate District 11: In a district that includes portions of hurricane-ravaged Galveston, constituents need a forceful and energetic senator to promote their interests in next year's legislative session. The Chronicle believes the right candidate for the job is Democratic challenger Joe Jaworski, an attorney and fourth-generation Texan from a prestigious line of litigators, including his grandfather, Watergate special prosecutor Leon Jaworski. The candidate lives in Galveston with his wife and two children and has already compiled a record of distinctive public service there. Jaworski served three terms on Galveston City Council, the last as mayor pro tem. He chaired the city's ethics commission and promises to push ethics reforms with high standards for public officials in Austin. Jaworski favors clamping down on rising higher education costs for reversing deregulation of tuition and expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to cover all eligible Texas youngsters.
(What's with Republicans running away from debates this week? - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Today Mike Jackson and Joe Jaworski were scheduled by the League of Women Voters to debate the important issues affecting Texas Senate district 11 but something was missing: Mike Jackson.
"I just completed the first debate about the important issues concerning the citizens of Senate district 11 but without my opponent. People deserve to hear where we stand on education, health care and especially insurance reform but my opponent apparently disagrees. We can do better than that."
Despite earlier confirming his participation in the well advertised debate on the popular Houston PBS political show "Red, White and Blue", Mike Jackson failed to appear at the PBS Station in Houston, TX at 3pm.
We're excited to let you know that we've launched the first television ad of the fall campaign, a 30-second spot that highlights Joe's family tradition of public service and pledge to do what's right.
The spot features Joe speaking directly to voters interspersed with historic photos and video footage of Joe on the campaign trail:
Hi, I'm Joe Jaworski.
My family's tradition of public service
runs deep in Texas.
My grandfather, Leon Jaworski,
held a powerful president accountable
when corruption turned into Watergate.
And as mayor pro-tem of the city of Galveston,
I tried to bring positive change to our community.
Now it's time for independent leadership and a new direction.
It won't be easy, and the powerful special interests will fight us every step of the way.
But that's okay.
I learned from my family a long time ago --
it's not about doing what's easy,
it's about doing what's right.
Produced by Jaworski's campaign team and airing throughout the district, "Doing What's Right" adds to the momentum of Joe's campaign as we head into the home stretch of this critical election year. You can see it during your favorite TV show, on Joe's campaign website , or on Joe's YouTube page .
This week, we mark 232 years since our nation declared its independence and launched the greatest experiment in democracy the world has ever known.
That experiment continues to illuminate. The Founders were revolutionaries - and we should always think of them so - who designed our government to be an institution answerable to the American people. Our government works because regular men and women stand for election among their peers who, by their vote, grant the ultimate consent to be governed. No matter the great change that has taken place since 1776, our government was designed to survive "politics" because American citizens are able to control their own course.
The mood is revolutionary again because - for the first time in over fifty years - whoever is elected President will be "new" to the White House. Not since Eisenhower's 1952 election over Stevenson have we witnessed a campaign without the President or his Vice President seeking the office. And since no incumbent is defending the past four years, the 2008 election cycle is about demanding an honest assessment of our condition and finding a new way forward. We'll find that way forward by voting our conscience.
